Worker killed in explosion at NC power plant

Officials say an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in North Carolina has killed one worker.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Officials say an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in North Carolina has killed one worker.

Progress Energy Inc. says the explosion Tuesday morning killed 24-year-old technician Cory Rogers at the L.V. Sutton Steam Electric Plant in Wilmington. The company says Rogers was performing maintenance on the of the plant's units that was offline.

Local, state and federal officials are investigating. The company says there was no fire at the site, no threat to the public and no impact on the reliability of the electricity system.

Progress Energy previously announced plans to retire the plant's coal-fired units and replace them with a new plant scheduled to begin operations in 2014.